With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the
richest Americans, the country’s top earners now face a heavier tax
burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.

The last-minute deal struck by the departing 112th Congress raised taxes
on a handful of the highest-earning Americans, with about 99.3%
of households experiencing no change in their income taxes. But the Tax
Policy Center estimates that the average family in the top 1%
will pay a federal tax rate of more than 36% this year, up from
28% in 2008. That is the highest rate since 1979, at least.